THE late Yvonne McClintock was born just five months before the start of World War II to Jimmy and Beattie (Wise) McClintock of Rochestown Stud near Cahir, Co Tipperary, the eldest of three siblings. The family was a hunting family with deep roots in the equine industry and Yvonne hunted with the Tipperary from a very early age.

She was always available to lend a hand during the Mastership of Evan Williams but really came into her own when Michael Higgens took the Mastership in 1973. She and Michael formed a partnership which lasted for more than 40 years until his death in 2019. Together, they combined to produce a golden age in Tipperary hunting.

Michael may have led the field for four days a week during the season and he did that for more than 2,000 days uninterrupted by illness or injury but he would not have been able to establish such an enviable record without Yvonne’s complete commitment. The hunt horses were kept at Rochestown where they were cared for and professionally produced by Di and Jim then Gillian and Dickie. On hunting days after Michael had left for the kennels in Tullamaine, Yvonne would load them and drive them to the meet. There she would collect cap and join the field. She was never a ‘thruster’ but, instead, followed up at the rear making sure, as many will testify, that all neophyte children and visitors unprepared for the challenges of the banks and drains of Tipperary country were encouraged to cross the country and enjoy the experience to the full.

At the end of the day, tea and sandwiches at the ready, Yvonne would leave Michael and the Team (Mickey Flanagan, Pat O’Brien, Rory Walsh and Joe Keane) to repair fences, physical or psychological, and take the horses home. There she would see to Michael’s needs and take bookings for visitors long into the night.

Her talent for engaging all in the life of the Hunt could be seen at Puppy Shows, Hunt Dances with Mick Delahunty in the Fethard Ballroom, American Tea Parties and Hunt Balls at Cahir House, point-to-points in Cashel or latterly, Lisronagh. Everyone was part of the fun because Yvonne and Michael made it so. She was ever-present at the all-Ireland Hound Shows in Clonmel, the RDS and, of late, Stradbally where, so often, the Tipperary hounds did very well. No stranger at Peterborough Hound Show either, Yvonne was truly a member of the international hunting fraternity.

Warm welcome

Rochestown, with Yvonne in charge, was a beautiful place to visit with a warm welcome guaranteed. The surroundings were magnificent with Yvonne’s talent as a gardener very much in evidence although Michael would claim proficiency with the lawn mower to be his area of expertise.

The hunter trial course at Rochestown was a venue for annual pilgrimage at the end of the season. Yvonne ran the farm and Michael built the course.

Over various years, competitors were asked to jump live chickens pecking in a chicken coop, a clothes line with clothes flapping in the breeze, and a cow (head and skin over a large log). Insurance probably wouldn’t allow these fences now but they were jumped and enjoyed by many. The Pony Club Tetrathlon Championships were hosted at Rochestown too.

Yvonne’s immersion in the life of Tipperary did not end with her involvement in the Tipperary Hunt. She will be sadly missed by the congregation of St. Paul’s Church, Cahir where, for many years, she arranged the flowers for the altar. She was a founder member of the Riding for the Disabled Group in Clonmel and until Covid-19 caused lockdown, continued to attend regularly. She stewarded at Clonmel and Killusty Shows for 50 years where her ability to inspire confidence in the young was again displayed for all to see.

A recent knee replacement had restored freedom of movement for Yvonne which made news of her passing even harder for friends and relations to understand. Mary had helped keep body and soul together for many years but Yvonne was very lonely without Michael particularly since the pandemic restricted her movement and that of her many friends. It is sincerely to be hoped that the ‘Hounds of Heaven still meet at 11’.

B. O’C